Keynote Speaker: Ellie Krieger, host of Food Network’s hit show “Healthy Appetite,” and James Beard and IACP award winner,New York Times bestselling cookbook author, and weekly columnist for The Washington Post.

Keynote Speaker: Ellie Krieger, host of Food Network’s hit show “Healthy Appetite,” and James Beard and IACP award winner,New York Times bestselling cookbook author, and weekly columnist for The Washington Post.

Stonyman Gourmet Farmer will participate once again in the Blue Jeans Ball! Save the date and make sure to join us. You'll have a chance to sample a good selection of our farmstead cheeses and to stop by the many food stations representing the Washington areas finest restaurants and chefs.

The Capital Area Food Bank is the largest organization in the Washington metro area working to solve hunger and its companion problems: chronic undernutrition, heart disease, and obesity. By partnering with 444 community organizations in DC, MD, and VA, as well as delivering food directly into hard to reach areas, the CAFB is helping 540,000 people each year get access to good, healthy food. That’s 12% of our region’s mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and grandparents.

Stonyman Gourmet Farmer will participate once again in the Blue Jeans Ball!

Save the date and make sure to join us. You'll have a chance to sample a good selection of our farmstead cheeses and to stop by for delicious tastings at the many food stations representing the Washington areas finest restaurants and chefs.

The Capital Area Food Bank is the largest organization in the Washington metro area working to solve hunger and its companion problems: chronic undernutrition, heart disease, and obesity. By partnering with 444 community organizations in DC, MD, and VA, as well as delivering food directly into hard to reach areas, the CAFB is helping 540,000 people each year get access to good, healthy food. That’s 12% of our region’s mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and grandparents.

On Saturday, August 2, Stonyman Gourmet Farmer will join MeatCrafters
and a select group of Central Farm Market vendors at the Appetite Festival at Strathmore. Culinary all-stars Giada de Laurentis and Bizarre Foods
Chef Andrew Zimmern will headline the event.

You can enjoy talks, tastes and demos, food trucks, live
music, wine tastings and meet a bunch of really cool chefs, including CFM’s own
Lynn Foster.

Stonyman Gourmet Farmer welcomes cheese aficionados in the Strathmore
Mansion Dining Room 11 to 7. MeatCrafters and Stonyman will co-present a talk
on charcuterie and cheese pairings at 3:30 in the Performance Center. The festival
is open Friday night and all day Saturday. For more information, visit
Strathmore.

WTOP NEWS INTERVIEWS STONYMAN'S SUSAN JAMES

From vegetables to chickens, backyard farming on the rise

Thursday - 3/6/2014, 7:13am ET

WASHINGTON -- The number of farms in the United States continues to decline in what has been a concerning trend in the past 25 years. In the U.S. Department of Agriculture's2012 Census of Agriculture, the number of farms in the country dropped to 2.1 million, down from 2.2 million in 2007 and 2.48 million in 1982.

Susan James' family has farmed in Virginia since 1725. Throughout the years, she has seen a response to the disappearing farms: backyard farming -- a term used to encompass everything from independent vegetable gardens, to at-home beehives, backyard chickens and more.

"For us now, it can [take place anywhere], from a plot in an urban setting to suburban backyards," says James, who runs theStonyman Gourmet Farmerin Washington, Va., a farm that specializes in farmstead cheese and customized meats.

And while backyard farming is on the rise, it is nothing new. "It's had a long and revered tradition in our country," says James, who says that even people in bustling cities used to keep cows and other livestock.

"During World War II, there were victory gardens so that people could have fresh produce because the production of food was going to the war efforts. And those gardens, by the way, still exist today. It's taken an evolution, and it's different now than it was in the past, but you see each generation -- it's been something that Americans really like, and right now it's really going through a resurgence as people rediscover the rewards of doing this."

On Saturday, March 8, James will chair a session titled, "The Facts of Backyard Farming Life" atCelebrating FOOD!, the Les Dames d'Escoffier symposium saluting women in gastronomy.

With a panel of four other urban agriculture experts, James will discuss the trends and techniques taking place in backyard farming.

One trend she's noticed is the change in demographics in at-home harvesting.

"Backyard farming seems to be an activity that women are really interested in," James says. "In the past two census periods … we've seen a dynamic rise in women in farming. And the interesting thing about women in farming is that they tend to farm smaller acreage, and they make that productive."

James believes that a huge driver in the backyard farming trend is education and ownership.

"A lot of parents are doing backyard farming so their children can see how food is grown and how it's handled … They learn that they can grow it themselves, that they can eat it, that they can take it home and have it on the table for their family. It gives them a sense of independence, of real knowledge and a sense of empowerment," she says.

Another important aspect of backyard farming, she emphasizes, is community. James says it brings together different people, interested in making their food and their land better.

"Everything is so interconnected. It's very satisfying in a world that has been kind of depersonalized … having bees increases the yield of the vegetable gardens. So it's interesting, this interconnection of these activities."

Celebrating FOOD! is an all-day food experience, with more than 40 culinary speakers, cooking sessions and conversations. It will be headlined by Carla Hall, co-host of "The Chew" and will be followed by a wine-tasting reception.

In addition to "The Facts of Backyard Farming Life," other sessions focus on a variety of topics, such as making flatbreads, to food writing and food photography.

Celebrating FOOD! will take place on Saturday, March 8 at The Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Md., from 8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. For information on details and tickets,visit the event's website.

Backyard Farming offers an exciting range of innovation-driven agriculture at the leading edge of the DIY and local food movements. It provides valuable life lessons, puts superb food on the table, and can be an incubator for establishing ag related livelihoods.

On Saturday, March 8, 2014, successful practitioners will explain the facts of backyard farm life: how intensive cultivation techniques on small tracts produce amazing yields season to season, how production from a backyard henhouse works according to natural and governmental requirements, how to establish a stand-alone home hive and how to link with local beekeepers to gain valuable experience.

Session participants will obtain useful info on how to achieve success and how to avoid major pitfalls. With this core information, participants will learn about networks and resources to draw from as their backyard farming progresses.

Backyard Farming Basics is one of the many activities featured in this bi-annual symposium presented by Les Dames d’Escoffier, Washington DC Chapter. For more information, or to register, please visit: www.lesdamesdc.org.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Rappahannock County Farm Tour.The Rappahannock County Farm Tour Weekend alsoincludes a self-guided farm tour, “All Things Rappahannock”local market, Civil War Heritage Day activities & weekendpackages at local inns, cottages and B&Bs.

The group was welcomed by County
Administrator John McCarthy. McCarthy
and tourism consultant Laura Overstreet discussed what Rappahannock County is
doing to support and promote Rappahannock’s farms and develop agritourism in the
region.

Cochon & Charcuterie is an exceptional opportunity to learn stateside the basics of traditional and authentic French butchery and charcuterie. The workshop is geared to professionals, experienced cooks and knowledgeable food enthusiasts.

Christmas in Little Washington Parade & Festival

December 5, 2010

Visitors to Stonyman Gourmet Farmer's mercantile enjoyed the Christmas in Little Washington Parade on Sunday, December 5, 2010. Santa heard children's wishes in the Stonyman Mercantile Garden and later Ben Jones and his Cooter's Garage Band played Bluegrass and traditional songs.

The sixth annual Artists of Rappahannock Studio & Gallery Tour was held Saturday and Sunday, November 6 and 7, 10 AM-5 PM, in the foothills of Virginia�s Blue Ridge. The tour featured 15 open studios and 8 professional galleries with more than 50 new and returning artists showing newly created work in a wide variety of media, including paintings, sculpture, pottery, glassworks, forged ironwork, jewelry, textiles, and photography. To learn more about the artists: http://www.raac.org/aor10/index.html

Porsche Club Fall Outing and LuncheonOctober 23, 2010Porsche Club of America, Founders Capital Region, visited Stonyman Gourmet Farmer on a glorious autumn day. This event was their second annual field trip to the Stonyman Gourmet Farmer Mercantile and environs.

Photo Credits: Left: Linda Bowyer Center & Right: Ken Marks

The Second Annual Rappahannock Farm TourSeptember 25-26, 2010

Events, presentations, tours and more took place at participating farms, orchards, wineries and plant nurseries. More than 400 visitor attended.

Stonyman
Gourmet Farmer demonstrated cheese making, and visitors to the
Mercantile were able to view an eighteenth century kitchen with cooking
pots and implements from "back in the day."

Many of the sites on the tour can be visited throughout the fall. Check the Farm tour website for contact information: